Chris Hammond
Wednesday, July 06, 2011 12:49:51 AM
Here are the photos from the American Autocross Series Round 8 from 7/3/2011. The car is of course our 2004 Nissan 350z in half prep for B Street Prepared.
Unfortunately I don’t have times, but let’s see if I can recall the order of the runs.
Views: 788
Chris Hammond
Tuesday, April 05, 2011 12:52:19 AM
So here we are, one day after the tour and I have all 6 of my runs squared away on video. Now to get them blogged about, in order of course.
Car Class: BSP
Suspension Configuration
Front: TrueChoice Coiliovers(bump 1 full turn, rebound 6 clicks) 650lb Springs
Rear: Koni Sports (rebound 2.5 clicks) 500lb Springs on Adjustable Perchs
Hotchkis Sway Bars: Front Full Stiff (Front hole of 3) Rear Medium Stiffness (Middle hole of 3)
Read the full blog post for all the videos
Views: 988
Chris Hammond
Saturday, February 19, 2011 9:42:29 PM
How was today?
COLD AND WET!
Beyond that? Very cold and very wet. I went to Great America today for the SFRSCCA Divisional Autocross. I got there around 7am and put the Kumho tires on the car, big mistake! I was sort of drying out, the sky was almost clear, but the drive down there was rainy, and there was snow! You can’t see it very well in this picture, but yes, there was snow in the “hills” around the Bay Area.
So I installed the wheels/tires and walked the course a few times. The driver’s meeting got delayed, then the start of the event got delayed. Then the rain started back up 
Let me tell you this, Kumho V710s don’t work well when it is <40 degrees and raining. My first run I went out and it felt horrible, I turned a 66.*, I wasn’t too thrilled about that. Here’s a video of that run.
But I was too lazy to go get my street tires (freshly mounted the previous night mind you). Big mistake, I went out on my second run and decided I would take things slower, expecting to actually go around the course faster. I slowed down and ran a 69.*. That broke this camel’s back, I ran off to get my street wheels, drill, and jack so that I could swap to the Falken Azenis RT-615s.
Thankfully Grant (in a Nismo 370z) followed me over and helped me bring 2 of the tires back to my grid spot. I don’t think I would have gotten them changed in time had he not helped! Thanks for the help Grant!
The Falkens were MUCH better, not perfect, but way better than the V710s in the rain. I managed to run a 60.*, a big improvement over the first two runs, though I just wish I had put them on before my second run, or even to begin with!
Here’s a video of the third run
Views: 1000
Chris Hammond
Sunday, February 13, 2011 11:58:50 PM
So today was the first day for a few things
It was my first time running an autocross with the San Francisco Region of the SCCA. I must say things went fairly well, even with of the normal first event hiccups.
It was my first time running this 350z on RComps, and any 350z on 18” tires on 10” wide wheels. Overall I was impressed, though I long for 315 Hoosier A6s!
Today’s event was held at California’s Great America in Santa Clara, CA. I started out slow, but finally kicked it in gear a bit on my 4th and final run. I realized today that I used to drive balls to the wall all the time at an autocross, I guess in my old age I’m not doing that as much, so it took me a while to turn that switch back on.
Views: 3858
Chris Hammond
Sunday, February 13, 2011 1:16:19 AM
So I ran into a few issues today with my GoPro HD. I was working on the car, and was going to do another time lapse, even picked up a second battery last night so that I was sure I would get as much as possible.
Views: 1203
Chris Hammond
Wednesday, February 02, 2011 2:07:35 AM
Sunday I partook in the NorCalUFO autocross, their second event of the year, my first attending since the baby was born in October. I got to the event and heard that they had a course worker get hit at their last event, unfortunately he was hurt pretty bad and of course doesn’t have insurance, so they were taking donations. I assume that their insurance doesn’t cover the injuries? I believe (could be wrong) that SCCA events always have insurance that would cover someone who got injured, but perhaps I’m wrong. The odd thing is this is the SECOND course worker they’ve had hit in the past 6 or 9 months. Not exactly something that you want to hear when you show up. (Mental note, keep that in mind when signing up for worker positions)
WOOOOOOWHOOOO! Fun at an autocross again. It’s been a few events since I’ve really had fun at an autocross. This time around I was still on the crappy street tires, which actually I think are worse than before as the rears are getting pretty bald, it was wet, so that made things more interesting.
Views: 1292
Chris Hammond
Monday, September 27, 2010 1:48:39 AM
So today was the first time I’ve ever autocrossed in California, and the first time the car has seen an event since our runs at the Colorado event in January. I left San Carlos early in the morning and headed off to pick up Will Strohl. We headed down to Marina California for the Northern California United Five-Ten Owners Club
Views: 2474